Georgia sheriff cancels Valentine's Day because of snow -- and boredom

By Ben Brumfield, CNN

Updated 1246 GMT (2046 HKT) February 13, 2014

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Southeast storm moves north – A pedestrian walks through a cloud of steam on a snowy street in New York on February 14. Commuters faced slick roads after a winter storm brought snow and ice to the East Coast.

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Southeast storm moves north – After spending the night at Reagan National Airport, Ernie Harmon of Long Island, New York, watches a movie while waiting for his flight February 13.

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Southeast storm moves north – Claire Lamborne removes snow from her car in Warrenton, Virginia, on February 13.

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Southeast storm moves north – Katharine Newton, a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, calls her parents February 12 while walking more than two miles from campus to her parents' home.

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Southeast storm moves north – Hossam Shalaby waits for his rescheduled flight under a departure board at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Tuesday, February 11.

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Story highlights

In a Facebook post, he declared northern Georgia 'NO VALENTINES DAY ZONE'

Sheriff Scott Berry has rescheduled the lovers' fest to Tuesday

He did it to make his staff and their spouses laugh

Residents took to Facebook and got in on the fun

By pronouncement of the sheriff, there will be no Valentine's Day this Friday. That is, if you live in Georgia, north of Interstate 16 and have to drive to get a gift.

Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry has designated northern Georgia a "NO VALENTINES DAY ZONE" in a post on the department's Facebook page Wednesday night.

Men are "exempt from having to run out and buy lottery scratchers and Hershey bars from the corner stores until February 18, 2014, due to ice, snow, freezing rain," the tongue-in-cheek post said.

It's all in fun. But rescheduling the festival of lovers to Tuesday would give the ice storm-battered region time to get roads back to normal and make Valentine's a safer affair.

Cutting the monotony

Though it sounds like a pretty practical safety suggestion to motorists, it was more likely something else that drove Sheriff Berry to the decision.

"I think he was just trying to cut the monotony," dispatcher John Ogle told CNN.

Deputies have been practically snowed in at the office for a marathon 34-hour shift, and the sheriff wanted to give them something to smile at, Ogle said.

But not just them.

"I think he was just trying to give our spouses a little laugh," he said.